Feast of Tabernacles 2024

We are happy you are interested in keeping the 2024 Feast of Tabernacles with us in Titisee. If you decide to attend in Titisee, we request that you register for the Feast. We look forward to meeting you! The following information may help you plan your trip.

The picturesque town of Titisee is set on Lake Titisee in southern Germany, in a beautiful area just 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Black Forest's highest mountain, the Feldberg (1,493 meters, 4,860 feet). Lake Titisee, with its scenic town of Titisee, is a glacially formed lake approximately 1 mile long (1.6 kilometers) and 130 feet deep. Tradition says that Roman general Titus once camped in the area, supposedly giving the lake its name. Temperatures in mid-October can be seasonally warm on sunny days, but evenings and daytime rainy periods may be chilly because of Titisee's altitude (845 meters, approximately 2,775 feet).

Where is Titisee? Titisee is located in the southern Black Forest on the German B31 federal highway. Visitors arriving from the Frankfurt airport proceed on the A5 Autobahn south to the "Freiburg-Mitte" exit and journey east on the "B31" federal highway to Titisee. Total driving time from Freiburg would be about 30 minutes under normal driving conditions.

From the Zürich airport proceed to Waldshut on the German side of the German-Swiss border. The "B500" federal highway proceeds north from Waldshut to the B31 highway and from that junction directly to Titisee.

Direct train service to Titisee is available on the German federal railway ("Deutsche Bahn"). Connecting trains to Titisee from the Freiburg station operate on a hourly schedule during normal business hours. At certain times of the day, Freiburg is accessible by direct connection from the Frankfurt airport train station. Because of the circuitous connections required, we do not recommend rail travel to Titisee directly from the Zürich airport.

Lodging in Titisee: (All prices listed are in U.S. dollars.) Titisee offers a wide variety of lodging venues with a corresponding price range. For hotels and bed-and-breakfast lodging per-person lodging costs can range from $50 upwards per person per night. Vacation apartments run $75 to $125 per night, depending on the size of the group. Breakfast is included with any hotel or bed-and-breakfast lodging, and in hotels half-board meal arrangements range from $15 to $20 extra per person per day. Please remember that exchange rate fluctuations may influence the final price you will be paying for lodging during the Feast. (Prices were based on a euro-dollar exchange rate of approximately $1.15 per euro.) In addition to the cost of your lodging, there is a "vacation tax" of 2.60 EUR for adults (age 16 and above) and 0.90 EUR for children (ages 6-15) per person per night that will be added to your bill. You can make your own housing arrangements by visiting the Black Forest tourism lodging website, which offers a Google English translation mode. (Be sure to enter "Titisee" as part of your search in the "Gastgeber suchen & buchen" field in the search box in the left column of the accomodations page.)

Cancellation fee: When you make your lodging reservation, you are agreeing to a legally binding rent contract with your lodging venue. This is standard practice in Germany (and also applies to other reservations like airline flights booked through travel agencies). German law provides that a lodging establishment be reimbursed for unrecovered losses suffered when a guest cancels his/her reservation on short notice and the lodging venue is unable to find a replacement for the guest. The lodging establishment is required to make a "good faith" effort to rent the room, and in most cases is successful in doing so. However, in those cases where the lodging establishment cannot rent the room, the guest may be obligated to pay up to 80% of the lodging expense. For this reason many Germans take out a "travel insurance policy" for a nominal fee which includes reimbursement for any expenses incurred when a guest has to cancel a reservation for unforeseen reasons. If this type of insurance is available to you, we strongly recommend that you make use of it. If you do have to cancel your reservation, please inform us as soon as possible.

Meals: For those international guests staying in a hotel or bed-and-breakfast lodging, breakfast is included in the price of your overnight. Depending upon your lodging venue, the breakfast will vary from a continental style breakfast to a modest breakfast buffet. In general there is no bottomless-cup in German restaurants, so please expect to pay extra for any coffee or tea that you order after your intitial serving, which is included with breakfast. A half-board meal plan can be arranged upon arrival at your hotel and will include breakfast and one other meal (either lunch or dinner). Drinks consumed with half-board meals are not included in the price for the half-board arrangement.

Noon and evening meals are available at the Kurhaus Titisee restaurant (immediately adjacent to the hall where church services are held). These meals will be offered on a "pay-as-you-go" basis with no advance registration required. Reservations are recommended for the Holy Days.

Finances: Although major credits cards are becoming more widely accepted in Germany, some lodging establishments and restaurants in Titisee do not accept them. We will inform you whether your lodging venue does accept them. We recommend that you carry a modest amount of cash (in Euros) with you and have additional funds at your disposal in traveler's checks. Personal checks drawn against foreign bank accounts are not accepted for immediate payment in Germany. There are "money machines" available in Titisee for cash withdrawals using the major credit card systems.

On special request, we can provide you a receipt for U.S. income tax purposes for the Holy Day offerings. We can only issue a receipt for donations paid by check from a U.S. bank or given in cash (dollars or euros). When you register for the Feast, please indicate if you are interested in receiving more information about having your donation receipted.

English translation: There will be a simultaneous English-language translation available for any church service conducted in German. The English translation will be broadcast on a frequency to be announced within the normal FM broadcast band (88-108 Megahertz). To receive the translation, you will need to bring your own small FM radio with a headphone. Each person in your household/group will need his/her own FM radio.

Special music: International guests who have experience in their home church areas are welcome to volunteer to perform special music at the Feast in Titisee. Preference may be given to instrumental special music, since Titisee is a German-language feast site. However, if you perform vocal special music, you are welcome to vounteer as well. When you register for the Feast, please indicate whether you wish to perform special music or if you can accompany hymns on the piano.

Hymnals: UCG-Germany uses it own German-language hymnal based on the United Church of God hymnal. Please bring your own UCG hymnal (or the UCG Hymnal app) with you since we do not have copies of the English hymnal available for visitors.

Festival Calendar: Our tentative festival calendar with all church service and activity information is available for downloading.

Welcome service: The first service of the Feast will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16. The venue for all church services will be the "Kursaal" at the Kurhaus Titisee, located at Strandbadstraße 4, 79822 Titisee-Neustadt. There is a parking lot available at the Kurhaus Titisee, and with a festival parking permit parking is free.

Leisure activities: Titisee and the surrounding area offer a variety of leisure activities. More information is available at the Titisee Tourism Office, located on the ground floor of the Kurhaus Titisee (our meeting venue).